Salinas >> A civil grand jury report released last month on the outdated Chualar sewer system may have gotten a few of the facts wrong but its recommendations are still valid, according to the jury foreman.

The interim report, mistakenly released April 18 by the 2013-14 Monterey County Civil Grand Jury, found that the Chualar community's relatively rudimentary, 50-year-old sewer system relying on pumps, pipes and holding ponds near the banks of the Salinas River should be replaced as soon as possible before its deterioration causes "major problems including possible health issues."

According to the report, all Chualar wastewater from toilets, sinks and showers flows through pipes to a central pumping station that relies on two pumps to send the raw sewage through a pipeline under Highway 101 to the holding ponds, which function as a kind of septic tank.

Among the problems with the current system, the report found, is the risk the raw sewage will leak into the river from the holding ponds, which are in the 100-year floodplain.

The report recommended a $4 million sewage treatment plant be built on the east side of Chualar, which could also supply recycled water for farm field irrigation, and that the county Board of Supervisors take the lead on allocating or finding funding to pay project costs for the largely poor, Latino community. The treatment plant would make it unnecessary to pump sewage to the holding ponds near the river, according to the report.

Less than a week after its release, the grand jury withdrew the report because county officials discovered an unedited version of the document had been released by jury foreman Francis Small, who acknowledged the error and said he was "extraordinarily embarrassed" by the mistake.

It turns out, Small said, that he hit the wrong button on his computer and issued an early version of the report that had not been "fact-checked" by county officials, and the withdrawal spurred a new round of review that has further delayed the report's release. Small said he expects the report to be reissued by next week.

According to county public works director Bob Murdoch, the report inaccurately characterized the risks associated with the system, misidentifying the type of pipelines the system employs and suggesting the pipes carrying raw sewage to the holding ponds rupture regularly, as well as the chances of the holding ponds overflowing into the river.

Murdoch said the report also found Chualar lacks any type of sewage treatment, which he said is inaccurate because the holding ponds where the raw sewage ends up are technically a treatment system.

Despite the errors, Small and Murdoch agreed it is clear Chualar needs a new sewer system, and Murdoch said his department has been working on the issue for some time.

Murdoch said the county is already actively seeking grant funding to upgrade the system's technology and infrastructure. He said the county has already secured a $200,000 federal grant for an upgrade project that is under way. It's important for the county to find funding sources for capital improvements because the Chualar community is not able to afford the millions a treatment plant and other upgrades would cost.

County officials have already taken a lead role on capital upgrades for water systems in the San Jerardo and San Lucas communities, both also largely poor and Latino.